The heavy armor and bulky weaponry make it hard for Ceceka to hide so he simply heads downstairs and makes for the exit. There, he opens the front door and then attempts to hide in the dining room. Maybe the kids will think he went outside.
"Ready or not, here we come!" the dolls call out in unison. They begin to look around the room, but unfortunately, they quickly discover Aily's hiding place. "Found you!" they shout as they leap toward her with fists raised!
Aily reaches out to lightly touch the nearest of the seekers. "Tag" she whispers then bolts for the door. Looking back and flashing the 'kids' before disappearing downstairs.
"Get her! Get her!" the Rinza doll shouts.
"I am! We're it!" Doriel shouts, rushing in pursuit of Aily.
Aily grins
Aily grins. Dancing to the right as Doriel rushes at her, then twirling out of reach to narrowly evade Rinza's giggling lunge. She knows she can outrun them, but once again she feels the pull inside her to NOT defeat them, but to play with them.
When they start to grow bright-cheeked and tired, Aily stops, making a show of pressing her hand to her forehead and feigning out of breath. "Seekers turned IT, you have me cornered and exhausted, what ever will you do with me?"
The dolls bend over, huffing and puffing, despite their actual need to breathe. "Whew! We... we got you!" Doriel gasps.
"Yes, that was ever so fun!" Rinza says. "Good game. But I'm tired now..."
"Me, too," Doriel says. Both dolls sigh as they make their way back up to the bedroom. There, they return to their rigid positions, troubling you no further!
Aily stands, watching them for almost a minute, before she smoothes out her skirts, settles her face back into its normal calmness, then goes to collect the men.
She finds them all, other than the massive skeleton. Which irks her. The maid decides she COULD find him, but it would take too long. "Humerus! The game is over. Come out."
"Sure thing, boss," Humerus calls out, reforming into his usual form and ambling out. "Do we need to find everyone else? Oh, looks like you already did. But now it looks like you lost the dolls, boss. Do I need to go find them?"
"Still no sign of our host? Perhaps we can search the rest of the house now that our playmates are exhausted." Telvir floats down form the ceiling with as much dignity as he can muster.
Caraid, who heard most of what went on upstairs, favours Aily with a warm smile before turning his attention to the rest of the group where his smile relaxes into its usual charming, but much less genuine expression.
"Hopefully. But I'm not banking on it."
He leaves unsaid the concerns that they can all draw for themselves.
The other bedroom on the second floor featuers an unmade canopy bed bedecked in salmon- and cream-colored satins. Rugs woven of pastel-colored silk adorn the floor, and a vanity hosts dozens of delicate glass bottles, all broken into shards. A heavy dresser stands before a narrow door opposite the bed.
Beneath the covers of the bed is a diary. A brief read-through reveals a few interesting passages:
I hate being in this enormous house all by myself. Prachalla is hardly an excellent conversationalist. All she can do is clean and follow simple orders. I was foolish to think I could build a friend for myself out of such materials. And I’m still no closer to solving the problem of the maidens. Perhaps if I brought one of them home with me, engaged her in a bit of fun, I could coax her to wake up...
It’s all my fault
It’s all my fault
***
My fault
My fault
I killed them
All my fault
I’m sorry
It’s all my fault
***
I believed the process was going to work this time. But every time they wake up, the stone sisters rampage through the house, breaking things. I was able to stop them before they got into the bedrooms. I got so angry that I punished them, right then and there. But now I feel defeated. It was all my fault. I’m sorry.
***
The prince and princess only want to play with each other. To them, I’m a caretaker who must be tolerated. I’ve considered disposing of them and starting all over again, but I can’t destroy a replica that looks so much like Doriel...
A drawing tucked into the diary depicts an illustration of a sinister manor. This is thee same image you found in Iron Taviah’s cottage.
"Humerous, perform your intended function, won't you?" Telvir points at the dresser and waves vaguely in a way that says, 'Move that out of my way.'
"Regret makes everything in life taste bitter. Hrm, and let me." The warrior puts his shoulder against the dresser and groans. It is just as heavy as it looks, but it's no match for Ceceka.
You shove the dresser aside and open the door. Stray beams of light penetrate cracks in the walls and ceiling of this large, walk-in closet. A wretched pallet of soiled bedclothes lies on the bare floor near a stone worktable. Common crafting tools are scattered everywhere amid chunks of dark stone. Some of the chunks are fragments of body parts—an arm, a shattered leg, half a face carved off like a mask. The torso and head of a dismantled stone sister regards the scene with a blank expression.
The Lonely Maiden sits huddled up in the corner of the room, a sullen expression on her face. She glances up nervously as you enter, her smoked quartz eyeglasses concealing her petrifying gaze while the snakes that make up her hair writhe and hiss.
"Oh! Oh, you're here! You're here!" she says. "Did the dolls give you trouble? I'm sorry. They can be very persnickety sometimes. I think they picked up on my anxieties after I invited you into my home here. They locked me in the closet to try to protect me, I think."
She gets to her feet and smooths out her tunic. "We haven't properly met yet, have we? I'm Kerinza."
The dark-haired maid dips into her curtsey and introduces each of the others (other than Humerus and herself, of course, no one introduces servants). "Pardon us please, Lady Kerinza, your servant became violent and had to be eliminated." Aily rises to standing, quickly smoothing out her skirts "The children are safe and delightful. They only wished to play a bit."
Telvir smirks a bit at the idea that any children--construct or flesh--could be delightful.
"We've rid the Field of those interlopers you mentioned."
"A pleasure." Caraid says, offering a short bow and his trademark bright smile. "It's a shame to hear our coming was causing you anxiety. Please rest assured that you have nothing to fear."
His eyes fall on the dismantled stone sister and he steps towards it with interest.
"You seek to return them to life?" He asks curiously, "Or simply to reanimate them? It would be a fascinating effort. Please, do tell me more."
He seems genuinely interested in the project.
"Oh, hey, boss, I'm Humerus, Humerus Fetch," Humerus interrupts to introduce himself. "I think the Lady Boss must have forgotten to mention me. She's in charge, you know, so she's got a lot on her mind. I think that might make her a little forgetful, you know, boss. You seem like you'd understand."
The warrior snarls his name at the medusa through pursed lips. "Ceceka." Other than that, he doesn't have a lot to say for now. Caraid already asked the most pertinent question, and Ceceka is quite curious to hear what the medusa has to say.
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Caraid's gentle nature puts Kerinza at ease. She follows his gaze and manages a shy smile. "The sisters are my friends. They are the only ones that I... That I can't hurt." A mournful look crosses her features, but it passes quickly. "I would do anything for them, to wake them from their slumber. I have spent years trying to help them. Decades. Centuries? Maybe. I've lost count...
"So far, the sisters have proven destructive and unruly. I tried to revive their memories by telling them stories, singing, and holding tea parties like those from my youth. I dressed them in pretty clothes I sewed myself. I anointed them in herbal salves and recited strange spells to break through their stone hearts. Nothing seems to be able to stop their violent tendencies. I have often been forced to punish them." She points to the broken pieces of the stone sister here.
"Thank you for dealing with those meddlesome interlopers who were trying to take my friends away! You are seeking an undead hag, yes? I have seen her. She passed through the Field of Maidens on her way to an ancient manor nearby. It is called Gristlehall! I have been there. I believe there may be powerful magic hidden inside that could help restore my friends to life, but the dangers are great, and I have been unable to infiltrate the place thus far. But, you have proven yourselves quite capable.
"I'll tell you how to get to Gristlehall so you can find the hag you seek. In exchange, I ask that you give me any magic you find in Gristlehall that might help the stone sisters. Do we have a deal?"
"Sure, boss," Humerus says. "Maybe you want to come with us? I bet you'd be really helpful, what with all the snakes and everything."
Aily does not agree, since it is not her place to do so. There is also only a minor rolling of the eyes, a tightening of her hands behind her back, and similar little ticks as the other servant does not seem to understand that.
:)
"That is a fair exchange. What dangers make Gristlehall inaccessible?" Telvir gazes at the medusa intently, knowing this will probably be the only opportunity to ever study such a creature.
"Do you have any guesses as to why an undead hag would travel there? It's very unlikely she is interested in reviving the maidens."
Kerinza cringes at Humerus’s suggestion. ”Oh, no! No, no, no! It’s far too scary!”
She turns to Telvir. ”Shadows cling to Gristelhall like a cowl. They grasp and drain anybody who tries to get inside through the windows. And the main entrance is protected by shadow-infused constructs! They were too tough for me to defeat.
“I assume your hag is interested in the same magic that I am after! Or something else, maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never met her.”
Kerinza provides you with directions: southeast to an unused road that runs past Skull Fork, where three giant skulls adorn a dry riverbed, then up the canyon for a few more miles.
"We will help." Caraid agrees, his enthusiasm for the project before him cutting through his usual cynicism. "I'll bring back whatever I can myself!" It's nice to find a fellow enthusiast and the medusa seems like a genuinely nice person - which is a rarity in Geb.
"Perhaps we can have a tea parry afterwards to celebrate." He offers, radiating charm towards Kerinza.
---------------------------------------
"Well we have our location." He says after the group have left Kerinza alone. "Shall we find our graveknight... friend and enlist his aid? It seems like this is not a place to enter lightly." It will likely be a place where his specific brand of magic is unreasonably useful, but that isn't necessarily a good thing...
Ceceka nods at Caraid's suggestion. Getting the graveknight would be wise. Perhaps the undead warrior knows more about how to deal with these shadows than they do. "We'll need magic to deal with the shadows, this much I know."
"We've faced the hag before and we'll defeat her this time as well. Let's establish our independence by hunting her down."
Telvir let's his gauntlet glow with power. "We have magic at our disposal already."
Humerus looks around. "I don't think Seldeg is around, boss. Remember, he got called away? But don't worry, boss, I'm sure you have lots of important things on your mind, which is why you forgot. That's why he wanted me to help you out, so I could remember stuff for you."
You follow Kerinza's directions southeast from the Field of Maidens. Soon, you reach a fork in the road marked by three huge skulls that must have belonged to giants. High canyon walls rise on either side. The path to Gristlehall is in a bottleneck of a dry riverbed.
The path up the canyon to Gristlehall is coated with acidic muck but is straightforward to travel. A few miles up the canyon, it widens to a rocky expanse of dead trees with Gristlehall at its center. A pall of gray fog hangs about here.
Four stone statues face each other like a cabal of conspirators along the overgrown path to a tall manor with sloping sides and a shallow roof. The main entrance in the center of the north wall is flanked by two wrought-iron staircases that lead to balconies and other doors on the second story. Shadow clings to the building like a stain, forming strange patterns in the ivy snaking up the manor’s crumbling exterior. Dark windows stare out like baleful eyes, soulless and unfeeling.
TElvir turns to the group. "Any preferences for a line of approach? We could check for a rest entrance and try for an ambush. These blighted trees provide us little cover, however."
Humerus stops, foot in midair, as he was about to proceed directly to the front door, since that's where you usually enter a house.
"Oh, yeah, sure, boss, whatever you think's best," he says, putting his foot down. "I can be pretty quiet if you want me to go look around."
"If the plan is to sneak in the back I might be better off staying here." Caraid offers. "Sneaking is not my forte but I can be distracting."
"The hag is too dangerous for us to split up"" Aily says, NOT looking at Caraid as she says it.
"Very well, a frontal approach then. She likely suspects we pursue her, at any rate." Telvir calms his mind and takes stock of his magical energy.
"Whatever you say, boss," Humerus agrees, heading toward the front door.
The path to Gristlehall passes between four enormous statues facing one another. Each resembles a hooded monk and stands upon a plinth five feet tall. The plinths each bear old inscriptions.
“I am the guardian of the west. I drink the blood of fools.”
“I am the guardian of the east. I crush the bones of the old.”
“I am the guardian of the north. I eat the hearts of joy.”
“I am the guardian of the south. I seek the wisdom of the immortal.”
The statues remain inert until you move to open the unlocked double doors to the manor. Then, they animate and prepare to attack!
There is a slight noise of irritation from Aily. A fleeting glance spared at the edge of her drawn blade then another at the hard stone of yet another statue, tells any caring that she is worried about dulling of said edge.
But she moves to the nearest, the nearest to Caraid, the drinking of fools oddly, and stabs her weapon at the stone monk's foot.
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Ceceka follows Aily's lead and focuses his efforts on taking down the one that drinks the blood of fools.
HP 160/160
AC 28 / 29 in Mountain Stance or 31 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 2 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +18, Ref +18, Will +14 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects:
"I think I'm OK here. I don't have blood or a heart anymore, and I'm not that old, so ... " He pauses for a second and looks at the fourth guardian. "Oh wait, wisdom and immortal could be a problem. So we should probably start with that one, right boss?"
He looks around and realizes that the group has ganged up instead on the fool guardian. "Oh, yeah, that makes sense too, boss," he says though not really, unless they think they're fools. But they probably don't, right?
Despite his doubts, he falls into his usual work stance and moves in.
Caraid, who likes his blood and other bodily parts where they are thank you very much (except on special Aily-based occasions) retreats smartly out of the trap although he takes a moment to infuse Aily with magic first.
Telivr commands Smoke to attack the statues, then exerts himself to hurl a large rock at the fool-eating statue.
for
for
Humerus grabs the guardian statue, cracking stone in his grasp. Ceceka scores a critical hit, shattering the statue's construct armor! Aily stabs the damaged statue, then Smoke and Telvir hit it, destroying it completely!
The remaining three statues move in to attack with reach. Ceceka is hit and grabbed, but the rest of you avoid harm.
Tevlir commands Smoke to attack the statue holding on to Ceceka, while he toughens the air around the statues and batters at them.
for
HP 160/160
AC 28 / 29 in Mountain Stance or 31 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 2 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +18, Ref +18, Will +14 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects:
Humerus steps in close to the one holding Ceceka and starts smashing it, his fists having the power of stone.
Aily weaves her blades in a dance of death at the one holding Ceceka. "Is this the Crushing the bones of the old or seeker of wisdom?"
Aily's dance of dagger death is less than stellar, potentially disrupted by her musing at which statue sought out their angry warrior.
Ceceka flies into a rage when the statue grabs him and puts him in a world of hurt.
Halting his retreat at a safe distance Caraid takes a moment to consider his options. Ceceka is not seriously harmed yet, certainly not enough to warrant a display of his 'illegal' magic, so he mentally reviews his spells and comes up short.
Plenty of magic for facing the undead (a necessity rather than a plan), a selection of things to support them (showing his value to the nation as a patriot should) but a remarkably lack of standard 'blowing-things-up' spells.
So with few other options he resorts to the most basic attack spell in his arsenal.
Once more, Humerus shatters the stone armor around a statue. Ceceka scores another critical hit, and Aily finishes it off, freeing the fighter! Smoke and Caraid miss, while Telvir's telekinetic attack slightly damages one statue--the other's hardness is too much to overcome.
The statues both attack Humerus. The first misses, but the second one pummels and grabs the skeleton.
HP 114/160
AC 28 / 29 in Mountain Stance or 31 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 2 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +18, Ref +18, Will +14 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects:
Humerus seems startled as he's grabbed. "Hey! That's not nice!" he exclaims as he immediately proceeds to punch himself free, delivering punishing, brutal blows easily able to crack stone!
Caraid, as much to his surprise as anyone elses', nails a statue right in the head!